First Wind is pulling out of its proposed wind energy project in the town.

The company is closing its GenWy Wind office at 18 Market St., spokesman John Lamontagne confirmed this morning. It had been considering a project which would have included portions of Attica, Bennington and Middlebury.

"We're not going to develop the GenWy project in the Attica area," he said.

"We've been conducting more than a year's worth of wind testing at various locations in that area and we determined the wind speeds were just not sufficient in that region to support building the project at this time.

"Unfortunately we made the difficult decision to close the office and not move forward with the project."

The office was opened in 2006, when First Wind was still known as UPC Wind Management. Officials said in July they had not determined how many turbines the project would have included.

Lamontagne said the office is slated to close in the next few days.

The company's projects in Bethany and Stafford were discontinued last year after both towns adopted laws effectively banning commercial wind turbines.
In this case, it was determined the area's wind resources simply weren't sufficient for the project, Lamontagne said.

First Wind is headquartered in Newton, Mass. It's best known locally for the eight-turbine Steel Winds project in Lackawanna.

Construction and advanced development are under way respectively on the First Wind's planned wind farms in Cohocton and Prattsburgh, Steuben County. It's additionally pursuing the Clover Ridge project in Chautauqua County.

The company in October agreed to abide by a voluntary code of ethics developed by the state Attorney General's office for wind power developers and municipal officials.

First Wind and Noble Environmental Power had been accused of improper dealings with local officials and anti-competitive practices, during an investigation announced this summer by Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo.